How to have a successful yard sale: a checklist from the week before to the last hour
By Rory at Estate Sale Zone · Published
A successful yard sale comes down to four things: prices low enough that people buy without asking, an ad posted three to five days ahead, a setup where everything can be seen from the street, and an early start. Have about $100 in small bills and coins, take a payment app as well as cash, and decide before the day where the leftovers are going.
The checklist below runs from two weeks out to the last hour. A garage sale is the same thing in a garage or driveway, so all of it applies.
The checklist
Two weeks before
- Check your city’s rules: how many sales a year, and whether you need a permit.
- Pick the day. Ask the neighbors to join: a multi-family sale draws more people than a single one.
- Go room by room and pull out what’s going. Keep a box for things that need a quick clean or a battery.
The week before
- Price everything with stickers or masking tape and a marker.
- Post the sale online with photos of the best things.
- Borrow tables, a clothes rack or a ladder for hanging clothes, and an extension cord to show electronics work.
- Get change from the bank.
The night before
- Put signs up where your city allows it.
- Stage what you can in the garage, so the morning is carrying out, not sorting.
- Charge your phone for card and payment apps.
On the day
- Be set up before your start time; early buyers come anyway.
- Put the big and eye-catching things nearest the street.
- Keep the cash on you, not in a box on the table.
- Cut prices in the last hours.
Rules by city are in garage sale permits in San Diego, LA and Orange County, pricing in how to price garage sale items, and where to post in where to advertise a garage sale.
How much change to have
About $100: forty $1 bills, six $5s, two $10s and $10 in quarters is plenty for a household sale priced in dollars and quarters. Most change goes out early, when people pay for a $2 item with a $20. Take Venmo, Zelle or a card reader as well, for buyers without cash. Keep the money in a pocket or apron, and hold a customer's bill in your hand until you've given their change.
Setting up
Put furniture, bikes, tools and anything big at the front: they're what make a driver stop. Group the rest by kind (kitchen, kids, tools, books) on tables at waist height; things on the ground get passed over. Hang clothes on a rack or a ladder, sorted by size, and fold the rest by size on a table. Have an outlet or extension cord so people can see that the lamp lights up and the blender runs.
When to start
Early. Many buyers do a circuit of sales from first light with a set amount of cash, and when it's spent they go home. In our listings, about half of Southern California's garage and yard sales start on a Saturday, so a Friday or a Sunday has less competition. Bring water and shade if it's hot: a cooler of drinks for $1 can sell better than anything on the tables.
Join forces
A multi-family or whole-street sale draws more people than one house, because there's more to see for the drive. Agree on one date and one set of signs, and post it once as a neighborhood sale.
The last hour, and what's left
Cut prices for the last hours (half price, or a dollar a bag) so less goes back in the garage. Then decide in advance: book a donation pickup for the afternoon, drop things at a thrift store, offer the rest on a local Buy Nothing group, or put a few useful things at the curb with a “free” sign if your city allows it, and take in what's left by evening.
Questions
- What sells best at a yard sale?
- Furniture, tools, kids' clothes and toys, bikes, and kitchen things in good condition. Specific brands people search for (Pyrex, Lego, KitchenAid) go first.
- What are the biggest yard sale mistakes?
- Pricing things at what they cost new or what they sell for online, not pricing at all, opening late, and having no plan for the leftovers.
- How do I sell everything at a garage sale?
- Price low from the start, cut prices in the last hours, sell by the bag at the end, and book a donation pickup for the rest.
- How do I make a lot of money at a yard sale?
- Sell more things, not higher prices: join other families, put the good furniture and tools out front, start early, and price so people buy several things at once.
- When is yard sale season?
- In Southern California, all year; there are sales every weekend in our listings.
Post your yard sale
Free on Estate Sale Zone: your sale goes on the map and into the Thursday email of the weekend's sales for your area, with signs to print and pictures for Facebook, Instagram and Nextdoor.